Lerio pounded a 22-12 win over Aung Tun Lin in their bantamweight semifinal bout as he assured himself and the Philippines of a silver medal in the 21st SEA Games slugfest at the Serimban Center Court, some 90 minutes travel by train from this capital city.
But that proved to be the first and only win for the Philippines in the day as welterweight Reynaldo Galido and middleweight Maximo Tabangcora bowed to tough Thai rivals and lightweight Larry Semillano got tired throwing punches without getting the point against a Malaysian foe.
Curiously, the Malaysians became an instant boxing power here, sending all their nine entries into the semis with four of them now in the finals. Their only loss so far was the no-show of bantamweight Jaiwat Yamun in his semis match against Thai Chotipat Wongprates.
Lerio and Wongprates fight for the gold medal in the finals Sunday.
Semillano, the country’s lone gold medallist in Jakarta, was a picture of frustration as the referee raised the hand of Adnan Yusoh after their bout where all the Malaysian did was to throw wild punches then clinch, clinch and clinch.
Yusoh took an 8-7 verdict to gain a shot at the gold medal.
"Naubos si Larry sa kasusuntok na hindi pumupuntos," rued RP coach Nolito "Boy" Velasco.
Galido, a former Asian Games gold medallist and Olympic veteran, and Tabangcora, a new face in the RP team from Sariaya, Quezon, settled for bronze medals as they were outpointed by Manon Boonjumnong and Somchai Chimlum, respectively.
Outside of Lerio, the other RP fighters remain standing are flyweight Violito Payla, featherweight Ramil Zambales and lightwelterweight Romeo Brin.
The Thais, winners of nine of the 11 events in Brunei, remain unscathed with five already in the finals.